Lasers are relatively simple weapons; they consume no resources, are blocked by shields, and damage anything they hit. Lasers are, however, not likely to breach the enemy hull or to set fire to the enemy ship. Multiple types of lasers exist, each suitable for a specific role in space combat. It could be said that lasers are the most versatile weapons in the game, but they are often outclassed in a specific role.

The basic laser is the weakest laser in the game. It fires a single, low damage shot. The basic laser cannot penetrate even the weakest shields, but it's cheap and only consumes a single power slot, so it could be worthwhile if you have extra power and weapon slots.

Burst lasers are quite a step up from the basic laser. While they are a good choice against systems on the enemy ship, they are especially well-suited for penetrating shields due to the large number of projectiles they fire. While the Mark III may not seem significantly superior to the Mark II based simply on its damage per second (DPS), the salvo size is much more important when dealing with shields, which recharge in the time between volleys. The Burst Laser Mark III fires a volley of five shots, a force which is unstoppable by all but the most resilient shields. However, the Mark II is more efficient, with 1.5 shots per power unit, compared to the Mark III's 1.25 shots per power unit and the Mark I with just 1 shot per power unit. This, combined with its higher speed, means two Mark IIs can dish out six shots in 12 seconds compared to the Mark III's five shots per 19 seconds, for the same power cost, leading to almost double the DPS. The Mark III's advantage is that it only takes a single weapon slot, but the Mark II is widely considered one of the best weapons in the game.

Heavy lasers are more akin to missile launchers than to the other laser weapons in FTL, firing one or two high damage shots instead of a volley of lower damage ones. This makes heavy lasers ideal for destroying the enemy systems or hull, but they have trouble penetrating shields. Thus, it is a good strategy to destroy or weaken the shields with burst lasers, bombs, ion weapons or missiles and then firing the heavy laser.

The Heavy Laser I is among the best weapons in the game. The Dual Laser is the only better 1 power weapon, but it has a rarity of 0. Be very wary of selling a Heavy Laser I unless you are sure you will never need a good 1 power weapon.

Hull lasers are best used against systemless rooms, as they deal double damage[1] to them. This and their reasonable volley size make them sound weapons for many different purposes. It is not rare for hull lasers to penetrate shields, but they are still better used when the shields are down, as they don't deal double damage to shields.

Name

Power

Cooldown

Shots

Damage

Hull Bust

Fire Chance

Breach Chance

SP

Speed

Scrap Cost

Rarity

Blueprint Name

Hull Laser I

2

14

2

1

1

0

2

low

0

75

65

2

XML

Hull Laser II

3

15

3

1

1

1

low

3

low

0

90

100

3

XML

↑It has not yet been tested if a modified damage values will affect this ratio.

Ion weapons temporarily disable systems without causing hull or system damage. Systems hit with an ion weapon are shown in a light blue colour with a countdown until the impairment expires. For each ion damage a weapon causes, the cooldown increases by five seconds. All crew bonuses for the system are lost for the duration of the ion damage. While a system is recovering from ion damage, if it takes additional ion damage, its cooldown is extended -and- more of the system becomes disabled, so focus firing on a single system with ion damage can result in it being completely disabled. Powered down systems are not affected. Hitting shields with ion damage counts as hitting the shield system. Ion weapons deal twice the damage to Zoltan shields.

Ion weapons (other than Ion bombs) travel more slowly than lasers. When volley firing with a mix of ion and laser weaponry, usually you will want to fire the ion weapons first, wait to see if they hit the enemy shields, and then fire your lasers. If you fire all your weapons at once, the lasers will reach the target before the ion shots do.

To fire a beam weapon, the player must first target a point on the enemy ship and then indicate the direction they would like the laser to travel over the enemy ship. Beam weapons deal damage based on the number of rooms hit, so it is a good idea to pause the game and find the optimal route for your beam to travel.

Shield bubbles will subtract 1 damage of a beam without discharging themselves. Most beams are unable to damage ships until other weapons first take out their shields. Once the shields are down, however, all beams are devastating weapons. Only the Glaive Beam has enough strength to reliably overwhelm shields.

Unlike missiles and lasers, most beams behave in a similar fashion and only differentiate themselves with special attributes and beam duration.

Beam weapons do damage based on the number of rooms they hit.

Each Shield bubble will block 1 damage of a beam. However, it will not do any damage to the shield strength.

Zoltan Shields will suffer two ticks of damage from the beam

It's best to use beams when their shields are down.

Beam weapons cannot be evaded and will always hit. Ships with the Rock Plating augment may still resist the damage.